Cutting a Bagel Like a Mathmagician

Math can be frightening sometimes, but in this case, it looks delicious.

George W. Hart, Research Professor at Stony Brook University, created an incredibly nerdy way to cut your bagel. In his “Mathematically Correct Breakfast,” Hart shows how to slice a bagel into two linked halves, just in case you’ve become bored with cutting it like a normal person.

As a guy who had to retake algebra hundreds of times, this was a pain to write, but it must be shared with the world.

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You obviously don’t have to draw on your bagel, unless you like eating ink, but this illustration shows the four major points in this process. The center of the bagel is the origin, circling the “Z axis,” “A” is the highest point above the “+X” axis and “B” is where the “+Y” axis enters the bagel. “C” is the lowest point below the “-X axis,” and “D” is where the “-Y axis” exits the bagel.

Yeah, that hurt my head, too, but bare with me.

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The red and black lines are where the cuts will be made as they go through the points. The black line goes 360 degrees around the “Z axis” and the red line rotates 180 degrees around the “Z axis.”

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The end result should look like this. The cream cheese optional, but highly recommended, because it’s bomb.

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Check out the video though. It’ll probably make more sense if you watch the magician do it with moving pictures. Feel free to argue math stuff in the comments.

H/T George Hart